Paradip (Odisha), Feb 10 (PTI) Police arrested four persons from seaside Dhinkia village, the site of JSW's mega steel project in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district, on the charge of attacking the personnel of the force during land acquisition trigerring fear among the people.

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The four, including two women, were arrested on Wednesday. With this the number of arrests since the January 14 clash between the police and the villagers rose to 20, the police said.

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“The four persons were arrested as they were wanted in separate cases,” Abhyachandpur police station inspector in-charge Jibananand Jena said on Thursday.

The clash saw locals and the police engaged in a pitched battle in which 40 locals and five personnel of the force wounded. It left the villagers in the grip of fear and at least 20 people are in hiding fearing arrest, while about 12 houses in the village are locked from outside.

Meanwhile, a revenue department official said the process of identification and demolition of betel vines as part of land acquisition for the proposed Rs 55,000 crore steel complex in Dhinkia panchayat has been completed.

The acquisition of the betel vines had started on December 22, 2021 in Govindpur, Patana, Mahal and Dhinkia villages of the panchayat, he said.

The maximum number of betel vines of 272 villagers are in Dhinkia village. A total 261 vines in the village have been demolished and 218 villagers have already been paid compensation by the company. However, some betel vines in the village have been left out due to some controversy over measurements and necessary action shall be taken by the local administration at a later date, the official said.

In Govindpur 96 betel vines of 102 villagers have been demolished and 92 beneficiaries were paid compensation, he said.

Compensation of Rs 19 crore has been paid to 757 beneficiaries in Dhinkia panchayat area, according to a company release.

The local tehsildar has meanwhile issued a notice cautioning local people that legal action will be initiated if villagers reclaim the betel vines after receiving compensation for the land.

The administration has started the process of identifying and counting of the trees in the premises of the local people at Govindpur village. The local administration has started the work for construction of the boundary wall, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)